Gavin Garner holds a bachelor’s degree in Physics from Colby College and Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in both Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia. His primary area of expertise lies in the burgeoning field of mechatronics (aka robotics). Over the past decade, he has built the University of Virginia’s mechatronics program from scratch, developing over 50 hours of unique laboratory experiments along with dozens of open-ended design projects. Through this experience, he has gained valuable insight into how to engage engineering students and teach them difficult, interdisciplinary material efficiently and effectively. Prof. Garner has won numerous teaching awards for his creativity and dedication to student learning. He is especially interested in updating traditional engineering courses to better integrate the modern tools and techniques currently used to solve design problems in industry. To this end, he has recently helped to develop a state-of-the-art rapid prototyping laboratory at U.Va.